Food handling structure for restaurants



May 15, 1956 A. A, BOOTS 2,745,542

FOOD HANDLING STRUCTURE FOR RESTAURANTS Filed Sept. 29. 1952 2Sheets-Sheet 1 1H!" Jul H" W nmlwwww" N an MI ,57- INVENTOR. r www A.50072 A TTORNE May 15, 1956 A. A. BOOTS 745,542

ROOD HANDLING STRUCTURE ROR RESTAURANTS Filed sept. 29. 1952 2sheets-snm 2 @M74 l? 42" a6 25 AWM/f A. 50073 United States Patent FOODHANDLlNG STRUCTURE FOR- RESTAURANTS Arthur A. Boots, Carthage, Mo.,assigner to Cata-Roll, Inc., Carthage, Mo., a corporation of MissouriApplication September 29, 1952, Serial N o. 312,029

2 Claims. (Cl. 198-203) This invention relates to a system of servingfood in restaurants, cafes and like public establishments and thisapplication is a continuation-in-part of my co-pendingapplication,Serial No. 166,677, tiled-.lune 7, 1950 and now Patent No. 2,666,519.

lt is the primary object of the present invention to provide'a system ofserving food identical with that of my aforesaid co-pending applicationfrom the standpoint of principle of operation, but improving thereon inarrangement of parts, structural details and method of actuation so asto render the movable parts more positive in their operation, to lessenthe cost of manufacture andto simplify the entire strutcural assembly.

It is the most important object of the present invention to provide afood serving system that includes a plurality of carriages forsupporting bowls of the food, the carriages being mounted for continuousmovement in procession around the track and having connection with acontinuous cable whereby all of the carriages may be driven from asingle prime mover.

Other objects of the present improvements to my aforesaid co-pendingapplication include the way in which resilient clips are provided toconnect the carriages with the cable; the way in which the clips arearranged to disengage the cable and thereby clear a prime mover for thelatter; the way in which the carriages are mounted upon a Hat-like trackfor mobile movement therealong; and many other more minor objects, allof which will be made clear as the following specication progresses.

ln the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of food handling structure for restaurants,made pursuant to my present invention, parts being broken away and insection. to reveal details of construction.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, top plan view partially broken away and insection illustrating a portion of the track and manner of mounting thecarriages thereon.

Fig. 3 is a vertical, sectional View taken on line Hl- Ill of Fig. llooking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, vertical, cross-sectional view taken on lineIV-I'V of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view taken on irregularline V-V of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an inverted view of two of the carriages showing theconnection therebetween and the way in which the same engage a cable;and

Fig. 7 is a vertical, sectional view taken on line VII- VII of Fig. 1.

In its broad aspects, the system of the present invention is similar tothat described in my aforesaid application and through use thereof,customers are served family style somewhat in the nature of a cafeteriawhere the customer selects the food desired.

in Figure l of the drawings there is illustrated a Vertical partition 10forming a part of a building not otherwise illustrated, it beingcontemplated that there be a kitchen 12 on one side of the partition anda dining "ice room 14 on the other side thereof. A swinging door 16formed in the partition 10 permits passage of restaurant employeesbetween the two rooms.

A counter, broadly designated by the numeral 18, is provided to servethe customers within the dining room 14 and is provided with a pair ofelongated, substantially straight sections 20 and 22 extending`perpendicularly from partition 10 and interconnected by a substantiallysemicircular counter portion 24 remote from the Wall 10. The counter 18comprises a plurality of spacedapart, vertical frames 26 eachpreferablysupported in an elevated condition-by a pair of posts 28 thatmay be secured to the floor of dining room 14.

The frames 26 cooperate in supporting a pair of spaced-apart, parallelpanels 30 andA 32. A shelf 34 extends outwardly from the panel 32 ofcounter assembly 18 and an L-shaped decorative molding 36 is secured tothe assembly 18 at the uppermost end of the panel 30. Protectivecoverings 33 and 40 for shelf 34 and molding 36 respectively, extendinwardly beyond the frames 26 a slight distance as illustrated in Figs.3 and 7 of the drawings.

Each of the frame members 26 is provided with a horizontal cross-bar 42spaced below the upper ends thereof for receiving a vertical standard 44that in turn supports a plate-like horizontal, continuous track 46. Thetrack 46 is oval-shaped conforming with the counter assembly 18 andextends into the kitchen 12 through openings 4S and 50 formed in thepartition wall 10. Suitable supports similar to or identical with theframes 26 are positioned within the kitchen 12 for supporting that partof the track 46 therewithin.

Track 46l comprises a pair of L-shaped strips as illustrated in Figs. 3and 7, each having a horizontal leg and a vertical leg, the standards 44being positioned between the vertical legs and attached'thereto.

The track 46 is adapted to support a plurality of carriages each broadlydesignated by the numeral 52 and each including a normally lowermostplate 54 having a pair of elongated, parallel strips 56 and 58- secureddirectly to the lowermost face thereof. Spaced-apart strips 56 and 58are Z-shaped in cross-section andv each cooperates with the plate 54 inrotatably mounting a pair of spaced-apart grooved rollers 60 beneath theplate 54. Rollers 60 are arranged in opposed pairs and rotatably engagethe opposite edges of track 46.

Plates 54 are arranged in spaced-relationship throughout the length ofthe track 46 and are interconnected through the medium of links 62, eachhaving pivotal connection with a proximal plate 54 as at 64 and 66respectively.

Each carriage 52 is provided with a second plate 68 that rests upon itscorresponding plate 54 and held against displacement with respectthereto by depending pins 70 passing through openings 72 formed in theplate 54. One of the openings 72 is elongated to facilitate positioningof the plate 68 on the plate. 54. A third plate 74 on the normallyuppermost face of plate 68 may constitute any suitable protectingcovering for plate 68 as desired. It is noted in Figs. 3 and 7 that whenthe carriages 52 are in the dining room 14, the coverings 38 and 40overlap the marginial edges of the plates 74. The plates 68 are insubstantial end-to-end relation and have their ends cutaway as at 76along the innermost edges thereof for purposes hereinafter made clear.The plates 74 on the other hand are polygonal and one end thereofextends beyond its plate 68 to overlap a portion of the plate 74 neXtadjacent thereto. The carriages 52 are motivated in processionsuccessively along the track 46 and continuously at a predeterminedspeed throughA the medium of an electric motor or other prime mover 78operably connected with a speed reducer 80 having a vertical shaft 82provided with a grooved drum 84. A continuous flexible cable 86 iscoiled in at least one convolution about the drum 8f?.- preferablywithin the kitchen 12 and circumscribes all of the carriages 52 at thestrip 58 thereof. Each strip 5S is made of a suitable resilient materialand has a pair of arcuate ears 88 struck therefrom and bent to presentopen-mouth clips for receiving the cable 86 as illustrated in thedrawings.

The ears S8 are biased upwardly against the cable 86 and accordingly,normally grips the same for connecting the carriages 52 to thecontinuously moving cable 86.

ln operation, energization of the prime mover 7S drives shaft 82 and thedrum 84 thereon. Drum 84 in turn imparts continuous movement to thecable 86 and by virtue of the connection ot the carriages 52 to cable 86through the clips 88 thereof, all of the carriages 52 will be movedsimultaneously in procession around the track 46. All of the clips 8Scooperate in attaching the carriages 52 to the cable 86 by virtue of thejoinder of the carriages 52 by links 62. Carriages 52 travelling alongthe straight stretches of the track 46 adjacent counter sections and 22,are arranged relatively in the manner illustrated in Figs. 1 and 6 withthe longitudinal edges thereof substantially parallel. As soon as acarriage 52 proceeds to an arcuate end of the track 46 and commences toturn thereabout, the pivotally mounted links 62 permit rotative movementof the carriages 52 on their vertical axes and the cutaway portions 76of plates 68 permit the relative movement. However, the plates 74,extending at one end thereof beyond the corresponding underlying plate68, remain in partial overlapping relationship as indicated in Fig. 1 ofthe drawings. As soon as the carriages 52 reach the drum 84, the clips88 thereof will move out of engagement with the cable 86, therebyclearing the drum 84. Clips 88 automatically re-engage the cable S6 assoon as their carriage 52 passes the drum 84. Thus, while each carriage52 momentarily moves out of connection with the cable 86 each time thedrum 84 is approached, all of the remaining clips 88 remain locked withthe cable 86 and further, by virtue of the links 62, such disengagedcarriage 52 will be carried along in procession on track 46.

It is seen that because of the arcuate configuration of the ears orclips 8S, the same will re-engage the cable 86 and become lockedtherewith after each passing of drum 84.

ln my aforesaid co-pending application, the plates 74 of carriages 52are adapted to receive bowls or plates of food that are placed thereonwithin kitchen 12 by attendants. The bowls of food are arranged in anumber of courses and as the conveyor system continues to move slowlythrough the dining room 14, customers seated at the counter shelf 34,may select the food desired. Attendants within the dining room 14 andwithin the rotating conveyor system may place plates upon the shelf 34for the customers, provide silverware, water and other drinks, whileothers in the kitchen 12 replenish the bowls or plates of food on thecarriages 52 as the same return to the kitchen 12.

Through the provision of cable 86, its manner of motivation and the wayin which the same is joined to the carriage 52, a simple, effective andinexpensive means of moving of the carriages 52 is provided. Through thepins 7i) it is possible to remove the plates 54 and 68 for cleaning inthe kitchen 12 when necessary, and the entire system may be maintainedin a clean condition.

Such details of construction varying from those herein chosen forillustration that fairly come within the scope of the appended claims,are manifestly contemplated hereby. l

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent 1. In a food serving system, acontinuous, flat, horizontal track having a pair of opposed, elongated,parallel side stretches and a pair of opposed, semicircular endstretches; a continuous series of carriages mounted on the track formovement around the latter in procession; a rotatable driver disposedoutwardly of the path of travel of the carriages adjacent one endstretch of the track; a continuous cable circumscribing the path oftravel of the carriages and passing around the said driver for actuationthereby; and releasable clip means on each carriage respectivelyextending outwardly therefrom and normally in frictional engagement withthe cable for supporting the latter and for movement therewith, saidclips each being disposed for movement out of engagement and supportingrelationship with the cable when its carriage moves adjacent saiddriver, said clip means and said driver being the only structure incontact with and supporting the cable.

2. ln a food serving system, a continuous, at, horizontal track having apair of opposed, elongated, parallel side stretches and a pair ofopposed, semi-circular end stretches; a continuous series of carriagesmounted on the track for movement around the latter in procession; anumber of links pivotally joining adjacent carriages; open-mouth,resilient clips on each carriage respectively and extending outwardlytherefrom; a continuous cable normally within said clips and supportedand frictionally engaged thereby; and a rotatable member having thecable trained thereabout for driving the cable and the carriagesfrictionally connected thereto through said clips, said member beingoutside the path of travel of said carriages adjacent one end stretch ofthe track, whereby as the carriages successively pass the member thecable will automatically disengage from and move out of the clips andthe latter will clear the member, said clips and said member being theonly structure in contact with and supporting relationship to the cable.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS689,242 Stutt Dec. 17, 1901 1,682,175 Hassler Aug. 28, 1928 1,741,246Maynes Dec. 3l, 1929 1,750,425 Parker Mar. ll, 1930 2,037,815 Ora Apr.21, 1936 2,129,380 Morgan Sept. 6, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 612,226 GermanyApr. 16, 1935

